Lee Colburn Into South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame

From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader web edition of April 2, 2011: Perhaps the greatest basketball player in South Dakota State history, Lee Colburn probably was the most exciting as well. The Brookings High grad was all-state in 1968 and 1969 as the Bobcats won the state "A" title in 1968 and were runners-uup in 1969. Colburn, who set the scool single-game scoring record with 38 points, was a prep All-American in 1969. After being recruited by Division I coaches Joe Cipriano (Nebraska), Tex Winter (Washington), and Cotton Fitszimmons (Kansas State), Colburn signed with Jim Marking and SDSU. The number one reason for choosing State was that Division I did not allow freshmen to play varsity, while Division II did, and Colburn wanted to play right away. At State, he finished his career Nol. 1 in scoring (1,822 points) and rebounding (837). But more than scoring or rebounding, the 6'6" Colburn is remembered most for his exceptional speed, body control, and twisting-turning lay-ups. "He just always went flying down the court," Marking told the Brookings Register. "Lee was a great competitor. He laid it on the line every ballgame." Colburn was an All-American in 1973, when he led the North Central Conference in scoring (23.3), was third in rebounding (12.2), and shot 52.9 percent from the field. He earned all-conference honors three times (1971-72-73). The Jacks were in the NCAA playoffs in 1970, 1972, and 1973. Colburn was a third-round draft choice of the Houston Rockets, surviving until the final cuts. He played pro basketball for a season in Belgium and atttended the NBA summer league in Los Angeles, playing for the Rockets. He tried out again with Houston the next year, again making it to the final cuts. He was a co-owner of MC&R Pools, Inc. in Sioux Falls from 1975 until his death in a car accident in 1997. Lee married Connie Wikle in march 1973. They had one daughter, Cristina Lee. Connie passed away in 1984. Lee was married to Karen Dickerson at the time of his death. I believe that Lee is also going to be inducted into the South Dakota Basketball Hall of Fame later this spring, along with two other Bobcats, Roger Nelson, class of 1954, and Renee Sallquist, class of 1986. Roger held the school single game scoring record of 37. He later played at USD, and was a starter on the team that won the national championship in 1958. Ironically, when Lee broke his record in Pierre in 1969, Roger was there. He was teaching in Onida, and had refereed the sophomore game. He later told us that he always wanted to see the game in which it was broken. Fortunately, he was able to be there. Renee was a member of two undefeated teams in 1984 and 1985. Their teams were rated as high as number three in some of the national girls basketball rankings during those years. Also rather ironically, their coach (Jim Holwerda--he was also the athletic director at BHS until 1992, replacing Nig Johnson) played for Tex Winter at Kansas State. Coach Winter left Kansas for Washington, where he tried to recruit Lee. It is a small world.